LAB University of Applied SciencesFaculty of Business Administration, LappeenrantaDegree Programme in International Business

Houran Ding

Business Plan of Shared Bike in Lappeenranta

Bachelor's Thesis 2020

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Abstract

Houran Ding

Business Plan for Shared Bike in Lappeenranta, 42 pages, 1 appendix.

LAB University of Applied Sciences

Faculty of Business Administration, Lappeenranta

Degree Programme in International Business

Thesis 2020

Instructor: Senior Lecturer Pekka Mytty, LAB University of Applied Sciences

The purpose of this thesis was to develop a business plan for Eco type - SharedBike in Lappeenranta, Finland and forward to all another business possibilitiesof future development. The theory related to a business plan concept isexplained first. Afterwards, this business plan was created according to theoutline include business idea, Business plan research and financial calculation.

That Information were gathered from Lappeenranta municipal governmentreports, presentations, books and Internet website sources. The author hasexperience and knowledge of the project, and supplements the experience part.The financial part is based on similar cases in other EU countries and the rest isauthor’s forecasts.

In the end of thesis, the business plan for Shared Bike has been proved to beprofitable business. This business plan is the author's first detailed plan againstthose backgrounds of the sharing economy, it demonstrates how to implementphases and develop projects.

Furthermore, the business plan was assisted by the Lappeenranta citygovernment, including borrowing of materials and interviews with the managerof Economy department. If possible, this business plan will be recommended topotential investors.

Keywords: Business plan, Sharing Bike, Lappeenranta Business Environment.

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Table of contents

1 Introduction..............................................................................................................51.1 Share bike at beginning..................................................................................51.1.1 Bike Sharing System................................................................................... 61.2 Objectives of the study....................................................................................61.2.1 Purpose of the study....................................................................................61.2.2 Objectives......................................................................................................61.2.3 Research question....................................................................................... 71.3 Delimitation of the thesis study......................................................................71.3.1 Business focus on Lappeenranta.............................................................. 81.3.2 Business starts timetable............................................................................81.3.3 Research methods.......................................................................................81.3.4 Theoretical framework.................................................................................91.3.5 Financial budgets......................................................................................... 91.3.6 Main services and customer groups......................................................... 91.4 Limitations.......................................................................................................101.4.1 Time............................................................................................................. 101.4.2 Business licenses in Finland....................................................................101.4.3 Correct essentials...................................................................................... 101.5 Suitable theories/ models.............................................................................111.6 Structure of the thesis...................................................................................11

2 Lappeenranta business environment................................................................112.1 Start-up in Lappeenranta..............................................................................112.2 Service City.....................................................................................................122.3 Business environment of Lappeenranta.................................................... 12

3 Theoretical Framework and Business planning.............................................. 133.1 Business idea in 21st century......................................................................133.2 Key concepts..................................................................................................133.3 Definition and Business Plan.......................................................................143.4 Business plan outline....................................................................................153.5 Executive Summary...................................................................................... 153.6 Marketing Plan............................................................................................... 163.6.1 Marketing Mix 4P’s.....................................................................................163.7 Branding strategy plan..................................................................................183.7.1 Mission and vision......................................................................................193.7.2 Tool for Strategic planning........................................................................193.7.3 PESTLE analysis....................................................................................... 193.7.4 Porter’s five forces analysis......................................................................213.7.5 Sale Plan..................................................................................................... 223.7.6 Competitors and market analysis............................................................233.8 Financial Plan.................................................................................................233.8.1 Income statement.......................................................................................243.8.2 Cash flow.....................................................................................................253.8.3 Balance Sheet............................................................................................ 263.8.4 Breakeven Analysis................................................................................... 273.9 Conclusion of the theoretical framework....................................................28

4 Business Plan....................................................................................................... 284.1 Executive summary.......................................................................................284.2 Market research.............................................................................................28

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4.3 Marketing strategy.........................................................................................284.4 Finance............................................................................................................294.5 Risk and risk management...........................................................................294.5.1 Operational risk.......................................................................................... 294.5.2 Property risk................................................................................................294.5.3 Crime risk.................................................................................................... 294.5.4 Weather risks..............................................................................................304.6 Products/Services..........................................................................................304.6.1 Deposit and pickup.................................................................................... 304.6.2 Membership................................................................................................ 304.6.3 Long-term user........................................................................................... 304.7 SWOT- Analysis.............................................................................................314.8 Marketing Research...................................................................................... 324.8.1 Market analysis...........................................................................................334.9 Financial Plan.................................................................................................334.9.1 Income statement.......................................................................................354.9.2 Break-even point analysis........................................................................ 354.9.3 Cash-flow analysis.....................................................................................354.9.4 Balance sheet.............................................................................................35

5 Summary and discussions..................................................................................36References.................................................................................................................... 39

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1 Introduction

The environmental problems facing the world are very serious today, and wemust think of an effective solution. For short trips, family weekend excursions,you can choose to use a shared bike instead of driving a private car. On the onehand, it saves your travel costs, on the other hand let you have more contactwith your family time, the most important thing is that you contribute to thecause of environmental protection. Although Finland is not facing seriousenvironmental problems, we need to take preventive measures.

Not only is daily travel, but also the bicycle small tour in the city. As thetraditional field has been constantly subverted, society has become increasinglyreceptive to innovative things.

Biking is not just about travel, it is more defined as a healthy exercise.According to the survey, people have been worried about the rapid growth ofobesity in developed countries. The obesity problem is already very serious inthe high welfare state, and the proportion of obese children in Finland is high,so the promotion of the bike sharing system program can help young children toexercise in their daily life.

Superior external conditions help promote our business plan. Finland has agood traffic order, and motorists are courteous to pedestrians and cyclists. Thechances of a bicycle accident are relatively small.

1.1 Share bike at beginning

At beginning of 1965, Amsterdam implemented the first bike sharing system inthe history. The sharing bike subject in Amsterdam collected the bikes, paintedwhite colour on, and then simply located those of them on the street for thepublic’s use. However, the main reasons which forced the project on hold mighthave been because without any payment and security system supported, manybikes were damaged or had been stolen in short time. This is an important firststep in share bike history even the implementation seemed like a failure.(Embarq 2017.)

In recent decades, Bike sharing system has not become popular. Even in the1990s, there were less than ten share bike systems run worldwide.

In the 2000s, and especially in the last decade, the share of bicycles becamepopular. The number of product categories increased from 13 to 855 (from2004-2014), a total increase of 6477%. Today, bicycles available‘s numberthrough the shared bike plan is estimated at 946,000 in the world, and most ofthem (about 750,000) are in Mainland China. (Embarq 2017.)

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1.1.1 Bike Sharing System

Bike-sharing systems have become increasingly popular in the 21st century.Through this system, residents and travellers can use public bicycles in cities ona large scale. City’s government and community groups promote bike-sharingsystems as part of inter-modal transport. People do not have to rely on theirown bikes, and the sharing system could also effectively manage their bikes,and finally form those links into a network. Many municipal governments hopeto reduce the carbon emissions caused from commuting by easily replacingmobile travel and make residents healthier through exercise.

In general, bike-sharing systems can be roughly divided into two categories.The first category is bicycle programs organized by local community groups ornon-profit organizations. The second category is large-scale public bicycleprograms implemented by municipalities or through public-private partnerships(such as the Vélib program in Paris). A central concept in this system is toreduce the use of cars in urban traffic, thereby reducing traffic problems, airpollution and noise pollution. At the same time, the theft of private bicycles canbe reduced.

Bicycle sharing systems in urban areas are different from traditional bicyclerental because it is faster and easier compared to those traditional bike-rentalprograms. Bicycle sharing also has an economic impact on the city. Bicyclesare a cheap form of transportation, all you need is infrastructure and mobilesoftware. Therefore, creating or expanding the infrastructure requires relativelylittle investment and subsequent maintenance costs are not high. In addition,bicycle sharing is related to the Green reality strategy of some European cities.As cities compete for tourists and guests, they have invested tremendousenergy to showcase their urban modernization and innovation. In this case, bikesharing can be seen as supporting urban modernization and personalizedenvironmental services. (European Best Practices in Bike Sharing System2009.)

1.2 Objectives of the study

1.2.1 Purpose of the study

The main purpose is to build a green-travel brand in Lappeenranta, the authorfound out that Lappeenranta and also the entire EU region did not have a largearea of national promotion and the use of shared bicycles, nor an influentialshared bicycle brand. In the face of such a blank market and a huge consumerbase, we need to seize the opportunity and time to develop.

1.2.2 Objectives

The goal and mission of the project pursued by the author is to prepare practicalbusiness plans and achieve profitability a bike sharing plan for Lappeenrantaand the Finnish market. The research includes the feasibility of the project,market prospects, government policies, future development, and opportunities.

For sub-purposes, the significant components are to:

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- Define customer needs, and requirements through reports published withthe economic sector to create a business plan as comfortable aspossible.

- Simulate start-up cost to get a clear picture of the financial investmentrequired. Use the input costs of similar companies from overseacountries.

The business plan is also to provide some references for researchers who wantto create a similar content or conduct a research purposes.

1.2.3 Research question

The hypothesis is “there are not enough services offered by current publictransportation for students and visitors to a new tourism city where people couldmake their experience nicely satisfied with everything”, to which the authorintends to find a solution through this thesis, which will generate ideas to build anew services plan in Lappeenranta.

Currently, as a new transportation idea, this business plan should develop itsfeatures to stay competitive in the market and pay attention at the beginning.Based on the purpose of this study, those main research questions are definedbelow:

“What is the best share-bike service for customer in Lappeenranta?” The mainresearch question is supported by the following research sub-questions:

- How to create a successful Sharing bike for students and Russianvisitors in Lappeenranta?

- How to keep sharing bike to stay competitive in Lappeenranta?

- How to make a new economic project successful?

1.3 Delimitation of the thesis study

Characteristics that arise from limitations in the scope of the study and thedecisions to made during study plan development regarding what to include andwhat not to include can be called delimitation.

The first delimitation of this study is the founding of the business plan,marketing research methods and market positioning. This project is very difficultto complete all the business connections and supply systems in the initial start-up phase. Second, what the author wants to study are the acceptance groupand the potential non-quantitative customers. Third, the business ideaprofitability and if the business plan is operating, such as price, preferentialactivities and promotion, is the core of new business idea to keep develops.Fourth, building up a partnership is also an important research goal. Who will bework with, and how to establish partnerships with other cities are the futuredirection of the business idea.

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1.3.1 Business focus on Lappeenranta

The business start place has been introduced in the previous paragraph, andthe author has saw how much such a done internship abroad during his study inFinland. When he saw how such a “bike-sharing model” brings convenience toworkers and students in Hong Kong and Singapore, the idea of introducing thisbusiness to Finland had already begun.

The idea is to bring the “bike-sharing system” to Finland, because the socialenvironment and health concepts are easier to make cooperates here. Inaddition, Lappeenranta was chosen as the beginning place because of the localgovernment has “green reality plan” (the author will introduce it later). Also,Lappeenranta is an international city and has three universities. Therefore,business is easier to start and develop.

1.3.2 Business starts timetable

The author of the thesis has not established a business start time. Thisbusiness plan may become a project of business investment in the next fewyears, and it will become a part of the tourism business to be adopted by theLappeenranta government. Therefore, this business plan will be implementedas soon as possible after consultation with investors or organizations if namedas an individual investment project.

1.3.3 Research methods

The research section includes research on government reports and businessreport to collect data. However, it is basically not possible to fully cover histhesis’s theory, especially for a new economy system. The author finds as manyresources as possible and interview representatives of business department.Therefore, showing the local situation as a research project and if necessary, aquestionnaire survey to the public could be the solution. Furthermore, theauthor also observes the business of other competitors. It helps people to makethe right judgments as to the preferences for business.

The purposes of doing report research is to know customers and futurepotentials needed and want to creating as many choices as possible.

It was worth noticing that research of Lappeenranta’s business environmentsuch as location, sales of Lappeenranta and information are based onLappeenranta government articles or borrowed from Lappeenranta governmentreports. Other responses were collected from other participants via email andmeeting minutes.

In fact, for keeping the trade secrets, there has no responses were collectedfrom the public. Large amounts of data are collected by business reports andmany of them help emphasize important aspects related to ideas of thisbusiness. Therefore, marketing planning is well done and it is based on maturebusiness plan and analysed date from business department of Lappeenranta.

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1.3.4 Theoretical framework

The theoretical study of this thesis is gathered from the Internet, Businessliterature and part of government reports. They are used to prove the viability ofbusiness and make it reliable. In addition, the author will also put forward hisown views and arguments which are based on his work experience. The authorbelieves that from the perspective of the entire background, theoretical basisshould be expressed from calculation and data, which could make the entirebusiness plan more convincing.

1.3.5 Financial budgets

The difficult parts of studies for the author were to calculate import tariffs andproduct rebates. Because bicycles are purchased from abroad, bicycle parts willalso come from foreign manufacturers.

However, there will be a clear delimitation and classification of the start-upfunds for bike-sharing. Those involve starting capital, importing bicycles, makingmobile Apps, shipping costs, advertising, insurance, and workers’ wages.However, these are just empirical.

1.3.6 Main services and customer groups

The project will be expanded to main services for different customer groups.

Student group:

Everyone has gone through the student times, the most frequent daily route isschool, apartment and teaching building. In a new learning environment, wealso have many new travel options, but students do not have any source ofincome, too high travel costs for them is a heavy burden, so choosing the mostappropriate way to travel is very important.

Many students are troubled by the following factors:

- The transportation costs are high in Finland, including publictransportation and taxi.

- Bus interval is too long, if you miss a bus, you will spend half an hourwaiting for the next bus.

- Students who are undergraduates or graduate students at this university,can buy a bike as a daily means of transport, but for those exchangestudents who have just come here for a semester, buying a bicycle isobviously not worth it. At the end of the semester, you will sell your bikeand face a serious devaluation.

For tourism business and convenient for residents to travel:

People around the world travel to Finland from abroad every year. They want tovisit the sights of the city in a short time. Many people may choose to take a bus,taxi or walk.

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In case, it is difficult for the visitors to understand the bus schedules, drivingdirections and ticket prices, and the high prices of taxis at various attractions,which directly affect the tourists who visit the city.

Therefore, people may choose to hike. However, walking will be limited bydistance. If the distance between the attractions is too far (more than 6kilometres), visitors will feel a certain degree of fatigue, which means peopleprobably will lose the interests to continue their visits.

Therefore, the author believes that many tourists would like to choose a bicyclewith their trips. After all, cycling is the cheapest and most effective way to travelwithin 5-10 kilometres, everyone wants to spend less money to visit moreplaces in limited time.

In addition, sharing bicycles is not only for foreigners to travel, but there are alsomany benefits to local residents.

1.4 Limitations

Any project has limitations, and the limitations in this thesis study could help theauthor understand the difficulties and problems. It will also help him to workhard and find solutions. The currently known limitations are in the followingaspects:

1.4.1 Time

As the author has mentioned at the beginning, time management is important tomake the business plan reality before losing its own relevance. In other words,the financial plan plays the most important role, it will be decided how toimplement a business plan. Therefore, the project execution phase must startruns, as soon as an investor or angel investment has been found.

1.4.2 Business licenses in Finland

Finland has strict standards for all companies, but this does not mean that it is atechnical problem. Moreover, it is not difficult to obtain a license under thepromotion of this city's policy. The service needs to prove the legitimacy andreliability of the product to the government and then report to the economicsector that this is a profitable project.

1.4.3 Correct essentials

The means to focusing on necessary aspects that any business plan shouldcover. If not, the subject is likely to fail, especially in the service industry underthe emerging network-operating model. For example, it is necessary to choosethe most suitable company to build the base installation and organize theteamwork.

Second, the observation method is used to analyse the situation of other bicyclesharing companies, their prices and services by reading materials andanalysing Internet sources.

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1.5 Suitable theories/ models

The focus points of PEST analysis are on the macroeconomic problems facingcompanies and how to deal with them. PEST analysis contains external factorsthat are mainly used for market research. It is used as an alternative method forSWOT analysis. Political factors are external factors that affect the businessenvironment. Economic decisions come from the government and policies affectthe company’s status and structure, currency, tax rates, and fiscal policies, aswell as labor and reforms, all of which affect the company in different ways.These factors are very important for the development of the enterprise andneed to overcome uncertainty.

In the long run, the overall economic factors will affect the company's business.Before planning and implementing, companies should effectively consider andanalyze inflation, interest rates, economic growth, and demand / supply trends,because these economic factors will greatly affect consumers and companies.Social factors are related to the products and services provided by the companyor the nature of the business. It involves population, domestic market, cultureand demographics. In the beginning, PESTLE Analysis was the most suitablemodel for this study.

1.6 Structure of the thesis

This article consists of four main sections. The main information about theproject was described in the "Introduction" part. It makes the whole of thesisclear and understandable. In addition, some explanations on local policy areintroduced to familiarize the reader with the topic.

The theoretical framework part was written about the basic theoretical concepts.The exact explanation of each is given. The authors of the paper describe theconcepts in the dependent literature review and government reports andcompare definitions between different business plan authors. After literaturerecheck of these concepts, the authors of the paper reached conclusions aboutunderstanding and explained how to implement them in a business plan.

The third part is the business plan, which includes background, marketinginformation, finance, and calculation methods. The author believes that eachpart is important in the business plan and pays attention to make the projectespecially reliable for readers, reliable and credible for potential investors. Theconclusion of the last chapter is the full text of the thesis.

The author summarized the process and results of the paper. In addition, somerecommendations have been prepared for further study.

2 Lappeenranta business environment

2.1 Start-up in Lappeenranta

The special location of Lappeenranta at the junction of East and West is also onthe south bank of Saimaa, the fourth largest lake in Europe. This is conducive toand shapes the local industry and commerce, and also adds a unique feature to

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the Finnish local culture. Throughout the history, good transportation links in alldirections are deliberated to be an important factor in the vitality of the region.Lappeenranta has approximately 73000 residents, However, if all the studentsare also counted, and in the total number of residents living is significantlyhigher than the official number. (Lappeenranta Info 2020.)

2.2 Service City

Figure 1 describes the distances and connections in four mainly cities: Helsinki,Tampere, Turku and Saint - Petersburg (Russia)

If a circle with a radius of more than 200 kilometres is drawn aroundLappeenranta, then the cities of Helsinki and Saint-Petersburg will fall within thecircle. There are approximately 8 million people in this circle, providing thelargest customer potential for Nordic trade and well-being services. Key factorsfor the success of Lappeenranta’s tourism business include: an internationalairport close to the city centre, a visa-free cruise along the Saimaa Canal toVyborg, and fast trains to St. Petersburg and Helsinki There are Russianshopping tourists. In the long run, cross-border traffic is expected to increase,although the growth rate will be affected by the Russian economic situation andthe purchasing power of the Russians at any given time. (LappeenrantaInfo2020.)

2.3 Business environment of Lappeenranta

Lappeenranta is Finland’s largest Tax-Free sales area. Lappeenranta is thelargest destination for Russian “shopping tourists” and its duty-free sales shareranks second in Finland. Newer invoice refund systems are also becomingmore popular. One out of every three euros spent by the Russians in Finland isleft in Lappeenranta.

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"In all cities in south-eastern Finland, Lappeenranta's duty-free sales sharedeclined the least. People come to Lappeenranta not only to buy groceries butalso to buy clothes, kitchen utensils and shoes. "(investor.fi 2019.)

The author participated in several meetings in this city. During the meeting, theauthor learned that the number of tourists from China has increased in recentyears. By the end of 2018, more than 650,000 Chinese tourists had alreadyentered Finland. In China's statistics, the total consumption of Chinese touristsin Finland has surpassed that of Russians.

3 Theoretical Framework and Business planning

The business plan can help business management and manager show potentialbusiness partners or future members of management the opportunities andrisks of the proposed business strategy. It is a solution to meet the importantneeds of real customers, while also creating financial transparency andenhancing the company's trust. (Lewlyn 2015.)

Business planning plays a vital role in identifying possible, unforeseenopportunities and impediments to smooth progress in a unique businesscompetitive environment. In short, it can be defined as a business function.(Lewlyn 2015).The idea of creating a shared bike business in Lappeenrantawas came up in 2017, the idea is headquartered in the beautiful city of FinlandLappeenranta. This is a shared bike for the main business provide an Eco-shared bike system in city, the company's development aim is "with our littlepower to make the world better". At the beginning of the company'sdevelopment, the products were first placed in local universities and urbanareas, and after obtaining good economic benefits, the products were extendedto other cities in Finland. Now that the Lappeenranta shared bikes system isalready visible in Finland, and we have introduced them into the EU in thesecond half of the year, we have also achieved very good market returns.

3.1 Business idea in 21st century

If companies take into account the rapidly changing facts of the modern world,traditional planning may seem meaningless. The power of technological andsocial change is changing every aspect of people’s lives and doing business.Reality changes very quickly. There are some new planning methods in the 21stcentury. The business plan should be viewed as a constantly changingdocument. The business plan should be adapted to the latest ideas ofentrepreneurs about how the company succeeds. Preliminary research shouldbe conducted, such as talking with suppliers or customers, to verify keyassumptions. (Folta 2014.)

3.2 Key concepts

The aim of City of Lappeenranta is to reduce the environmental impacts of itsoperations. It intends to become a carbon-neutral, waste-free and emission-freecity, with increasing wellbeing among its inhabitants. (City ofLappeenranta,2013-2015)

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Lappeenranta spent 1.5 million euros on upgrading cycling lanes in 2015, whichwas 15% of total investments. Lappeenranta was selected as the cycling city ofthe year 2015 in Finland, by the national cycling association. (GeneralPresentation of Lappeenranta,2018)

As the Author mentioned earlier, he has been working in Lappeenranta City Hallfor 2 and half years, and he knew Green city, healthy life are the core of theCity’s strategy. The author believes this business idea could give people a newlife experience. The concept of shared bicycles is one of the latest businessmethods in recent years, and it does not require too much cost or worry aboutlosing damage because we all know the cycling is one of the healthy sports. InLappeenranta, cars and percentage of driving licence holders are high, andespecially those Russian foreign tourists are coming by their own car. Therefore,at the beginning business plan that philosophy was to serve long-term residents,including students. Those of them could be the first customers group, andcontinuously to push this concept to the society, hopefully that could make morepeople know this business and use the services.

3.3 Definition and Business Plan

There are many types of business plan definitions and interpretations, becausebusiness types and purposes are different. A business plan can be a process ofdetermining the goals of a business enterprise, business strategies and futureplanned actions to promote its survival. And develop within a certain period oftime. The business plan mainly focuses on two key aspects: coping with risksand obtaining profits. (Peterson,2010.)

The business planning process first requires an in-depth investigation,assessing all factors that may affect the results, and studying possible corporateaction results. In addition to this, the business plan defines managementmeasures for the expansion process. (Becket 2016.)

The business plan process plays the most important role in the company. Theformulation of a business plan can provide the company with stability and profits,and at the same time, a bad plan could greatly deteriorate the company'ssituation. Therefore, effective business plan recommendations are very usefulfor companies. (Becket 2016.)

There are many reasons why entrepreneurs should write business plans. First,if a plan is carefully completed, it will help to find a partner or investor. Inaddition, it is easy for entrepreneurs to forget the initial business goals, so it isnecessary to sort out the necessary things and challenges. The third reasonmay be the transfer of shares or the sale of the company, and it was ultimatelywritten to start a business. (Finch 2010, p.2)

The most direct reason for why the author wants to have this business plan isbecause Shared Bike System is one of the emerging marketing industries, andthe advantage is the investment cost is not too high. The shared bike system isalso the most classic case in the sharing economy. In addition, the success ofthe shared bike system in many countries of Asia and it also had beenpromoted in some tourist cities of Europe, those examples could make the

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author believe that those cases are proving this is an operable business project.Lappeenranta has great potentials especially as a newcomer in the Europeantourism market.

3.4 Business plan outline

Some entrepreneurs do not have business plans, or have a very outdatedbusiness plan. Most views hold that the significance of a business plan is onlyvalid when looking for investment and loans. But in fact, a business plan can bea means of financing or a tool for organizing business and checking results.(Shaw 2017)

The sources of these opinions are from online videos, business reports ofsenior managers and some professional books. After demonstrating andreading, the author defines a layout that is most suitable for the project. Itconsists of the following conditions:

- Executive summary

- Company description

- Market analysis

- Competitive analysis

- Management & Operations

- Marketing and sales

- Financial summary

3.5 Executive Summary

The most important part of the business plan is the executive summary, and itserves as a quick reference. (Emerson 2015.) An executive summary is anoverview of a larger document or research report, and is usually the first thingfor reader to have a look. In general, the executive summary of a businessreport is the only place where investors determine whether they need to havean idea and take action on a business plan. Oftentimes, investors or banks donot have much time to read and have strict scrutiny, that is why executive mustrise their attention up. But if the form of the executive summary is not short andaccurate enough, this will greatly reduce the opportunities for businesscooperation. A good executive summary is to analyse the problem, drawconclusions, suggestion, and have viable course of action with a complete butshort summary. (Frederick 2011.)

For start-ups, the key is to attract the attention of investment angels withsufficient reasons, or to convince investors and banks that the project is reliableand profitable. Therefore, business opportunities should be explained in aninteresting way at the same time. In addition, most investors are interested infinancial analysis and investment allocation to ensure that their money is notwasted during the operation. Generally, if the executive summary does not

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cause investors to clearly understand the project plan, then nobody is willing toinvesting time and money in a tedious thing. In conclusion, analysis ofmarketing (Include market targets, competitors and future potentials), strategyof marketing and shortly statement explanation are necessary information at theend of the executive summary. (Ward 2017)

3.6 Marketing Plan

Marketing is acting or business of promoting and product sell or services sell(including marketing research and advertising). (Sharma 2016). Withoutmarketing, most companies will fail. However, many small businesses do notspend time to develop a comprehensive marketing plan. These companies willcreate different strategies for marketing but with only small to medium success.Otherwise, they will occasionally win a major victory, but find themselves unableto properly adjust tactics, goals and strategies (Smith 2019.). Efficient marketingcan formulate reasonable strategies, achieve successful innovation, improvethe efficiency of promotional strategies and enhance the brand image. The mainpurpose of marketing is to attract customers and maintain existing ones.

In a simple word, marketing is how salesman to explains to buyer that how goodthe product is and how to promote people to buy it. Marketing is an Ad andbooklet but nowadays marketing could also be a press release as a Facebookpage or a Twitter account. (Michael 2019) Marketing planning is one of the mainand extremely important parts of the business planning process. Marketingbrings success in the long run, especially the continued growth in revenue. Themarketing plan helps to define the efficiency in customer satisfaction and helpsdetermine the core products / services that meet the company’s goals fordifferent market needs (McDonald 2011.) Therefore, this part of theoryintroduced the marketing plan theory and to show its principle and theorizeintroduction. This next section will include market portfolio theory, strategy,competitor and market analysis, and profit calculation methods.

3.6.1 Marketing Mix 4P’s

Often, marketing tools are used to define marketing mixes, which combinemany elements to consolidate the brand of the product and promote sell theproduct or provide services. Product-based companies must come up withstrategies to sell products, and marketing mix is one of them. Because thisconcept makes the marketing process very powerful, it is considered to bepowerful and simpler, and can be precisely controlled (Grönroos 1994) Themarketing mix is a set of methods and means for marketing brands and raisecompetitiveness (Farrell,2008) Figure 1 shows Marketing Mix.

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Figure 2 describes Marketing Mix 4P’s include: Product, Place, Price andPromotion.

A) Products: Normal Products are items that satisfies needs or desires in life.Those of them could be a physical item, service or virtual products. It isproduced at a certain cost and then supplied to the right buyer with a certainprice. (Martin,2014) Successful products will satisfy the market as much aspossible. It must be able to fulfil the promised function. There should be a clearand simple explanation of product advantages and functions to users andpotential customers. Brand effect is another important function of the product.(Martin 2014)

B) Price: The second part of the marketing mix is the price, which reflects whatproduct level is and service cost. Price is an important part of a marketing plan,it directly shows company's profitability and has a major impact on the entiremarketing strategy, product sales, and future market demand. In addition, thesetting of prices is particularly important, too low prices may means poorproduct quality and high prices may discourages consumers. The price settingdepends on several factors: the price of similar goods, the company's operatingcosts and macroeconomic factors. The development stage of the marketeconomy has a huge impact on purchasing power and demand. The pricingprocess requires research on competitor products to analyse the value of theproduct. Therefore, price consideration also should be taken into account thatdue to socio-economic and cultural issues, the results of the inspection vary indifferent countries, so the price of the product varies is by country. (Richter2012, pp.35-40.)

C) Place: Place is the third part of the marketing mix and it represents theproduct pressing, sales place and its accessibility. The process of defining thislocation requires an in-depth analysis of the target market to find the bestdistribution channel and effective positioning.

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Therefore, if the analysis method fails, the result may be bad because not allregions should have the same distribution strategy. The review and inspectionshould include a deeply search for the following questions: "Is the store satisfiedwith potential customers?", "Is an online store necessary?", "What is the salesand marketing strategy of the opponent?" And "What kind of sales team shouldorganize?"(Richter 2012, pp.41-47)

D) Promotion: Strategies of Marketing communication and technologies are allpromotional titles, included advertisements, promotions, holiday offers andsocial relations. It does not matter which channel has been used, it should besuitable for the products, prices, and end users that being marketed needs. Thedistinction between marketing and promotion is important because promotion isonly the communication aspect of the entire marketing function. (Martin 2014)The final element of 4P is promotion. It mainly introduces consumers to productpromotion strategies (such as advertising). Traditional advertising promotionsinclude tools such as television, Internet and radio, as well as printing andpaper-flyer. It is considered to be an important part of the marketing planbecause it can increase sales and brand awareness. In addition, business tools,press releases, exhibitions and other public tools are also very effective. Thebasic problem of promotion is that because the sales representative’s behaviourand attitude will affect the company’s image, the sales representative’sperformance is very important. In promotional activities, marketers should notonly consider the target sales, but also consider the different needs ofcustomers in the market, because customer needs and preferences vary.(Richter 2012, pp.31-36)

The author summarizes this chapter by Business books and material fromwebsites. Specifically, the marketing mix includes place, price, product andpromotion. 4P’s is playing a very important role in marketing plan because itdefines the company's marketing foundation, and all further business activitieswill surround these 4 elements.

3.7 Branding strategy plan

Brand strategy is a long-term plan for brand development. (Gunelius 2016)Brand is an intangible asset and the company's image in society. Brand tellsconsumers what they expect from a product or service, that is the main reasonwhy it plays one of the most important roles; it is also the difference betweenthe same type of product with competitors. Corporate logos, company names,slogans and other visual effects will directly show the company's brand tocustomers. An effective brand strategy can improve the company’s businessareas and increase competitiveness; it also could positively affect consumerexperience and emotions. (Williams 2016.)

Once the company starts to formulate a brand strategy, it should first determinethe target group, market competition and capabilities, 4P plan, etc., its purposeis to let the company develop in the right way. In order to create a strong brand,the company must define the correct business objectives and ensure that theinformation and brand strategy are consistent. (Lake 2016.) Many times, if thecompany’s communication style reflects the brand (for example, a brand aimedat young people should have more informal meetings than a brand aimed at

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older customer groups), these methods could able to treat the brand strategy asan effective Strategy. In addition, a strong brand strategy also needs to developaround emotional benefits. When customers consider themselves is a part ofthe overall business, this emotion will strengthen the relationship between thecompany and consumers. (Frederiksen 2016.)

3.7.1 Mission and vision

In the beginning, the mission and vision of the project were an indispensablepart of strategic planning, because these statements could achieve the goalsand determine the direction of the project. The mission of statement should beshort and clear, it also should express the company's purpose in a way ofsupport and continuous commitment, then sets the company's operating planand outline specific goals. A good mission statement can show the relationshipbetween the company and its customers. On the other hand, the VisionStatement shows how entrepreneurs view the company’s future anddevelopment. It can also motivate employees to create new ideas for thecompany's development. (Fernandez 2017.)

3.7.2 Tool for Strategic planning

In recent years, mature business tools usually have SWOT analysis, PESTtools and Porter’s five forces analysis. They have independent modelling anddifferent analysis types from each other. Entrepreneurs need to choose theirown tools according to their needs.

3.7.3 PESTLE analysis

PESTEL analysis shows an acronym for tools which used to identify themacroscopic forces facing organizations. These abbreviated letters representpolitics, economy, society, technology, environment and legal. Depending onthe situation, it can also be reduced to PEST or some other sections can beadded (for example, ethics). (Oxford College of Marketing 2019.)

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Figure 3 describes PESTLE Analysis include: Political, Economic, Socialand Technological, Environment and Legal.

A) Political: Government regulations and laws could affect the company'sprofitability and success to some extent. Basically, the company will consider allinfluencing factors, such as government policy, political stability, transparency,foreign trade policy, taxation, labour law, environmental policy, trade regulations,and education levels. For example, trade agreements between countries canhave a significant impact on import tariffs. (PESTLE Analysis,2020)

B) Economy: The main external economic factors affecting the company includebank interest rates, currency exchange rates, inflation rates, unemploymentrates, GDP and credit availability. These factors will affect the company'sstrategy, both in the long and short term. (PESTLE Analysis,2020)

C) Society: The social factors are mainly to analyse the market's socio-economic environment, and to consider the regional population characteristics,culture, customs, age distribution and the value of the population in the market.(PESTLE Analysis,2020)

D) Technology: Technological innovation may have an impact on the market,and therefore on companies involved. Technology plays a key role in thecompany's profitability and strategy. (PEST LE Analysis,2020)

E) Legal: The organization is aware of the legal laws and regulations that arelegal in the territory in which it operates. Organizations also need to understandlegal changes and their impact on business operations. These factors includelegislation of employment, consumer laws, health and safety, trade laws, etc.(PEST LE Analysis,2020)

F) Environment: Usually, it refers to the environmental factors and the impact ofthe surrounding environment and ecology on the organization. The role of theenvironment in the modern economy is becoming increasingly important. Theseinfluencing factors include climate, recycling, environmental protection andsustainability.

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3.7.4 Porter’s five forces analysis

Figure 4 shows that Porter’s five forces consists of Bargaining power ofsuppliers, Threat of new entrants, Threat of substitute, Bargaining powerof buyers and Competitive rivalry. Therefore, it displays that fourcomponents are connected to the fifth one, Competitive rivalry

Porter's five competitive position analysis methods are simple frameworks forevaluating and evaluating the competitive strength and position of businessorganizations. The five forces determine the company's competitive strengthand attractiveness in the market, and can also help the company determine thestrength in the business situation. This helps to understand the power of thecurrent competitive environment and where the company wants to enter. (Porter1980)

In application, strategic analysts often use Porter's five forces to understandwhether a new product or service has potential profitability. The theory can alsobe used to help companies understand their current strengths and weaknessesby understanding where the power is. (Porter 1980.)

- Supplier power: Used to assess the difficulty of suppliers in raising prices.The following reasons are the main driving forces: the number ofsuppliers with basic inputs; the uniqueness of the product or service; thesize and strength of the suppliers; and the cost of replacing suppliers.(Porter,1980)

- Buyer power: Evaluate how easy it is for buyers to lower prices. This isdetermined by the following factors: the number of buyers in the marketdemanding such goods; the importance of buyers; and the cost of buyers

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replacing suppliers. Companies might be limited to one or a few largebuyers because their acquisition volume is relatively large (Porter 1980)

- Competitive competition: Mainly depends on the number and capabilitiesof competitors in the market. Many competitors use price reductionmethods to attract buyers, especially in providing indistinguishableproducts and services. (Porter 1980)

- Threat of substitution: If there are many generations of products in themarket then it will undoubtedly increase the possibility of price increasesand make customers switch to alternative products. This will reduce thesupplier's strength and market flexibility. (Porter 1980)

- The threat of new entry: The profitability of the market attracts newentrants, which erodes profitability. Unless industry leaders have barriersin patents, economies of scale, capital requirements or governmentpolicies, profitability will decline to a competitive level (Porter 1980)

Summarizing Porter's five advantages analysis methods, it should be said that ithelps to understand and obtain an overview of the market environment, therebyhelping to define the company's marketing strategy. In addition, regulations,taxation, and trade policies have made the government the sixth force in manyindustries.

3.7.5 Sale Plan

The sales plan can influence the company's strategy. This strategy is mainly forthe sales target, the strategy used to achieve the target and the availableresources. The sales plan is an important process in any company because itcan make all plans organized and make the company's financial status clear.(Baker 1999, pp.275-290)

The summary process of the sales plan should be based on the data andstatistics of previous years, such as overall sales, customer habits, marketingstrategies, pricing and market changes. Second, companies need to understandindividual target groups in order to predict the number of consumers, theircontact information and needs. In addition, the sales plan also includes arigorous resource plan, including advertising, labour, cost of sales, equipmentloss and promotional expenses. In addition, the sales plan should be in linewith the actual production capacity, which includes sales personnel, promotionmethods, products and market knowledge. (Baker 1999, pp.277-290)

It is necessary to create a sales budget after the sales plan is ready. The salesbudget is the guide of the sales plan, usually there are three types of salesbudget: optimistic, realistic and pessimistic. Those three different sales budgetscould provide more options for the changing market and make the sales planmore flexible. The sales plan and budget should be revised regularly, usually itshould be done in every six months or every year. The advantage of this is thatyou can find problems and correct errors in time, and improve efficiency.Therefore, the company should pay more attention to the length of the salescycle will affect cash flow. (Baker 1999, pp.277-290)

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3.7.6 Competitors and market analysis

Figure 5 describes Competitors Analysis include: Identify, On-Site, BacklinkProfile, Competitor, Search Engine, PPC and Social.

Today, each country and each market have one or several competitors. As aresult, modern companies are facing increasing challenges, so in order toobtain better sales in marketing and higher customer loyalty, the companyshould perform an analysis of its competitors. Analyzing competitors is animportant part of a marketing plan because it can compare your strengths andweaknesses with your competitors and predict the impact of the analysis resultson the company’s future strategy. This assessment can make the company'sproducts or services unique and differentiate from competitors, increase marketshares and create new business opportunities for the future market. (Fleisher etal 2015, pp.1-15)

3.8 Financial Plan

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Figure 6 describes the four mainly consists of financial plan: profit andloss projection, projected balance sheet, projected cash flow andbreak-even analysis.

Financial planning is a tool and an important part of a company’s business plan.Adequate funds can enable entrepreneurs to maintain their competitivenessand continue to develop in the future. (Investopedia 2017) Generally, thefinancial plan can examine the company's current financial situation and predictfuture financial performance. The purpose is to determine the capital structureand the company's operating status, so as to further understand the company'sfinancial situation. In addition, the financial planning process also establishesfinancial policies to control cash flow; and to ensure that the company uses itsfinancial resources in the most effective manner. The financial plan also showsthe direction of the company’s activities and analyses the impact of eachbehaviour on financial development and stability. In addition, the financial planhelps to display the investment ratio, (such as equity ratio, debt ratio), so as toclearly show the decision-maker to understand the company's current financialsituation. (Boesch 2016.)

3.8.1 Income statement

The income statement is one of the three main financial statements used toevaluate the company's performance and financial status (the other two are thebalance sheet and cash flow statement). The profit and loss statementsummarizes the company's income and expenses generated throughout thereporting period. However, it does not show that the company is currently losingmoney or making a profit. The chart shows that the company is losing moneybut may own certain assets at the same time, or the assets bring additionalvalue. (Abrams 2003, pp. 237-282.)

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Table 1 Income statement example (Saimaa UAS. Financial Accounting andBusiness Game 2016) describes the income statement and calculations. Thoseexpenses are subtracted from the budget sales.

3.8.2 Cash flow

The cash-flow statement shows the actual amount of cash the company has,but not its profitability. If the organization have no enough cash to pay the bills,workers' salaries or house rent, the company's future business developmentcannot be carried out. (Abrams 2003, pp. 237-282.)

In the cash flow assessment, it can clearly show the capital inflow and outflow,and it also shows the company's management efficiency. Monthly cash flowchecks can determine the direction of capital outflows and predict differentsituations that may occur in the short term. (Abrams 2003, pp. 237-282.)

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Table 2, Shows the Cash-Flow example. (Saimaa UAS. FinancialAccounting and Business Game 2016)

3.8.3 Balance Sheet

The balance sheet shows the current overall situation of all assets and liabilitiesof the company. The significance of assets and liabilities in the statement ishigher than the value brought by the business itself because it truly reflects thecurrent status of the company. (Abrams 2003, pp. 237-282.)

Generally, assets include current assets (raw materials, inventory commodities,cash balances and accounts receivable), fixed assets (equipment, land) andthen deduct mechanical depreciation. Liabilities include accounts payable, taxes,shareholders’ equity and retained earnings. After calculation, the assets shouldbe equal to the total liabilities. Businesses need balance sheets every month orquarter so companies write them every year. (Abrams 2003, pp. 237-282.)

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Table 3, Balance Sheet example and components(Saimaa UAS. FinancialAccounting and Business Game 2016)

3.8.4 Breakeven Analysis

Breakeven analysis is the final component of the financial plan, whichdetermines the company's safety line based on total revenue and total cost(Madegowda 2006, pp.676-687). The break-even point is that income andexpenditure are equal, which means that the company does not make money orlose money. The analysis defines the fixed and variable costs as well as thesales volume and price required to achieve balance. (Madegowda 2006,pp.676-687.)

Table 4 shows the break-even point obtained by dividing the fixed cost bythe difference between the selling price per unit and the variable cost perunit. (Saimaa UAS. Financial Accounting and Business Game 2016)

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3.9 Conclusion of the theoretical framework

A solid theoretical framework has been established after the thesis authorstudied the literature and data. This is also the basic theoretical structure of thebusiness plan in reality. The author will follow the theoretical frameworkdescribed in this chapter. The content of the following chapter includesmarketing research, financial planning and marketing planning and so on.Marketing plans and financial calculations will be edited with reference to othermature examples.

Unfortunately, due to the prevalence of coronaviruses in Finland, many marketstudies cannot be carried out in a short period of time, and data cannot beaccurately collected. So far, the author had to focus on financial planning andwrite Lappeenranta Business environment introduction as chapter 3.

4 Business Plan

4.1 Executive summary

The idea of bringing sharing bikes to Finland was from 2017.The headquartersof the business under consideration is located in Lappeenranta, Finland. Themain business of the project is to establish an effective shared bicycle system inthe urban area, and the development goal is "with our little power to make theworld better". The initial plan for this subject is to promote the service to localuniversity students and urban areas first, then expand to other Finnish citiesafter obtained good economic benefits. Now that sharing bike have appeared inFinland, next goal of the business is to bring it to other EU countries. In this way,the project has also achieved good market returns.

4.2 Market research

Lappeenranta has all the conditions and preparations for emerging markets,and local residents also have a high passion for outdoor sports too. Knowingthe situation of business after talking with the representative from LappeenrantaBusiness department and also read some government reports, it can be seenthat in recent years, number of tourists from Russia have been as usual, andthe number of tourists from other Asian countries has increased year by year.Tourists prefer to experience the scenery of Finland in the countryside nearlakes and forests. The feedback from tourists can tell that they want a moreconvenient and cheap mobility tool, but it must not be a car. Travelers prefer tospend more time on a relaxed and enjoyable journey than to spend time in thecar.

4.3 Marketing strategy

The main services that sharing bicycles will provide short-term rental, long-termrental and monthly rental. if possible, it will also open up sales Bike-positions foradvertisers to place their company logos. The SWOT analysis below will showthe advantages of the project in detail. In addition, the tourism project in the city

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of Lappeenranta is a good opportunity to develop bicycle sharing system.“Letting more people enjoy healthy and fast life” is the core of the whole project.The marketing plan is carried out through websites, leaflets and governmentpromotion.

4.4 Finance

As mentioned in the previous chapter, the capital and technology required forthe start of sharing bike in Lappeenranta are not high, mainly because the mainbody of the project (Bicycles) will be imported from foreign countries. Thisstrategy would reduce the manufacturing costs and labour costs as much aspossible. In addition, the technology skill of the App and its relative maturity, thecost of customizing an own App and App license has been greatly reduced. Inthe sharing economy system, the recycling of any item reduces costs andincreases profits.

4.5 Risk and risk management

No project is immune from risk even if the preparation has been done carefully.Here are still risks that cause the project to fail. What kind of risks the companywill face and how to deal with it? Those things will be challenges for everyentrepreneur. It is necessary to identify those potential risks and try to controlthem enough early. Now there are many types of risks in business, but the mostcommon are include operational, financial, strategic and legal risks (Blackman2014). The author combines theory and summarizes the risks of share bike inthe market

4.5.1 Operational risk

Operational risk is one of the most important risks that companies must dealwith. Entrepreneurs need to know whether the market has sufficient demand forthis business, competitions challenges, falling sales prices and rising rawmaterial prices (European Best Practices in Bike Sharing Systems)

4.5.2 Property risk

When the company's financial work is abnormal or bank transactions are notaccepted, there are financial risks. Financial risks can lead to accountability ofshareholders or investors. Therefore, develop a reliable risk management planto ensure investors' funds and thus gain credibility for entrepreneur projects. Intheory, financial risks can be classified as capital, credit, and equity risks.

In sharing bike business, the highest property risk is concentrated on bicycles.To deal with bicycle damage or loss will become the main challenge forcompany.

4.5.3 Crime risk

The company must also look for criminal risks that could seriously affect ourbusiness. In the outside business, man-made destruction of bicycles and theftof property can be the main source of reputation and economic loss.

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4.5.4 Weather risks

Weather is the most uncertain risk in the bike-sharing business. The weather inFinland varies greatly, with winter longer than summer. Nevertheless, thecompany can respond to the weather by providing different types of tires insummer and winter to reduce the losses caused by winter (European BestPractices in Bike Sharing Systems 2009.)

4.6 Products/Services

In the previous chapter, the author introduced the main services. In this section,the author will implement his ideas in detail. They mainly include three areas:short-term deposit, membership and long-term use. Because the marketaudience is different, users can choose one of the services freely. The authorwill not give customers specific advice.

4.6.1 Deposit and pickup

Most commonly, users can use one or two euro coins to release the bicyclefrom the locked terminal, and can only get the coins back by returning thebicycle. Such services are limited to universities and nearby communities. Thereason is that because the deposit accounts for only a small part of the cost ofthe bicycle, it has little effect on preventing theft.

Although there is an increased risk of theft, such services are still set up tomake students and some teachers more convenient. For example: if the studentneeds to go home because of an emergency but misses the bus, this projectwill be the first choice. In addition, for tourists who come to Finland. The projectwill introduce online payment methods. The user will able to use the bicyclethrough their credit card pay or purchase buy hours card from Shops.

4.6.2 Membership

In this version of the plan, bicycles are stored in project-operated hubs or self-service terminals throughout the city, such as schools, train station, and lake-sides.

First, users need to upload their personal information through registration andpay a deposit of 99 euros according to the plan. The deposit is required toensure the company's interests and necessary security. In addition, users cancancel membership and get back the deposit at any time. However, thecompany will not refund the deposit if the bicycle is intentionally damagedduring use.

Users registered in the program can use their membership card (obtainedthrough the App) on any hub and start using the bicycle in a short time. In thecurrent promotion plan, the first half-hour is free.

4.6.3 Long-term user

The author believes that everyone has had the experience of own bike beingstolen or someone who around you had been lost their bike. And here has a

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good suggestion to rent a bicycle for a long time, especially for those peoplewho like to ride a bike. Those good advantages include: saving the cost andtime for maintaining the bicycle, avoiding the risk of the bicycle being stolen andthe purchase for buying a bicycle. The beginning of this service stems from“Dutch bicycle city plan”, almost everyone chose a healthier and low-carbonway to work or go to school. In Lappeenranta, there are many people who likesports, so it can bring a considerable market for this service.

4.7 SWOT- Analysis

As can be seen from Figure 6 below, the project has many advantages, whichare essential for the successful operation of sharing bike. According to themarket research carried out, at present it is only necessary to find a suitablelocation near the universities, schools, central railway station, tourist attractionsand some local communities to install bicycles.

On the contrary, those weaknesses may affect the business activities of theproject. This weakness is due to the local population and the process ofpromoting the services. These factors will take a long time to resolve. Inaddition, the long-term winter environment will consume a lot of bicycle life,which negatively reflects sales revenue.

At the same time, companies are always under pressure in the externalenvironment. One of the opportunities is to cooperate with the government andparticipate in the Lappeenranta tourism market.

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Figure 7 SWOT - analysis of Sharing Bike in Lappeenranta.

4.8 Marketing Research

In order to determine the future development prospects and plans of the market,the author conducted a serious market research. It is necessary to conductinterviews with different relevant persons. The author interviewed the Director ofthe Russian Tourism Agency and the business representative of the city ofLappeenranta. These people are concerned about new investment projects andhave strong interests in business projects.

For the sake of confidentiality, the interviewees did not authorize the authors todisclose their names and titles. The author will describe the details of interviews

33

at the end of the paper. At the same time, due to the influence of COVID-19, themeeting originally scheduled for Finland was forced to be canceled andreplaced by a telephone conversation.

The data collected during the interview is reliable and relevant because theinterviewees provided the Lappeenranta Traveller's Manual from 2015 to 2018as evidence, those could provide researchers with reliable business informationand prove the project ’s prospects to potential investors.

The main evidence includes:

Lappeenranta events and weekly program for summer. After a rough calculation,there is an average of seven activities in the summer regarding cycling. In 2015,Lappeenranta spent 1.5 million euros to upgrade bicycle lanes, whichaccounted for 15% of the total municipal investment that year. Lappeenrantawas selected as the 2015 cycling city of Finland by the National BicycleAssociation. The author was also informed that Lappeenranta's main bike lanes,cycling plans, and cycling maps were fully planned in 2016. From Page 7, theauthor observed that three bicycle rental companies were also established in2015. They are Pyora Expert, Sataman Loiste and Sandcastle TouristInformation Point. (VisitLappeenranta Tourist Info 2015, pp.6-10)

4.8.1 Market analysis

To perform the market analysis is for formulating marketing strategies moreeffectively. Carrying out market analysis is for the project to effectively formulatemarketing strategies and control costs so that the project can be as profitable aspossible. The results of the analysis contain extensive information and will playa role in the business implementation phase. The market analysis mainlyincludes SWOT analysis charts, understanding and analysis of the targetmarket, competitor analysis and so on.

4.9 Financial Plan

This financial calculation is based on the related expenditures of similar projectsin other European countries. According to estimates, the initial cost ofestablishing a shared bicycle system is approximately 17,500 Euros. Thisproject is not a complex engineering project and does not require highertechnical support.

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Table 5, Basic costs for build Shared bike system in Lappeenranta

Because of the size of the city's population, the author does not believe thatexcessive investment is beneficial. For business and profit, too muchinvestment means a burden, so the author has drawn up a currently viablebusiness profit chart.

a) First, the customer needs to pay a deposit of 99 euros (the deposit can berefund at any time). If required, customers can also choose to purchaseinsurance at a premium of 60 euros. (The purpose of insurance is that if thebicycle is damaged and a cycling accident occurs, the insurance company willpay compensation.)

b) The project can get 9900 euros from the deposit. In addition, the sum ofinsurance and cycling income and the total deposit, the results and investmentfunds are basically the same. In this way, the project can recover costs in ashort period of time, and then continue to use the income fund to expandinvestment

Table 6,includes Price, service group and time.

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4.9.1 Income statement

Temporary business confidential information.

4.9.2 Break-even point analysis

Temporary business confidential information.

4.9.3 Cash-flow analysis

Temporary business confidential information.

4.9.4 Balance sheet

Temporary business confidential information.

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5 Summary and discussions

The purpose of this thesis is to prepare a business plan for the establishment ofa shared bicycle in Finland. This plan creates a reasonable framework withextensive marketing and financial data. The author of this thesis attempts tosummarize and combine many sources of information. The key concepts arecrucial, but the power of the network cannot be ignored.

Strategic and financial planning is the most important part of empirical research.If the project wants to be implemented, it must be a financial plan. In terms ofthe author's experience, the government's tenure and Asian background haveplayed a role in the entire paper process. At the same time, the authorcombines Asian business models with European business models as much aspossible, and conducts interviews and discussions with relevant personnel onvisible issues. These practices greatly enhance the credibility and correctnessof the theoretical part of the paper.

During the research, the author's original interview plan was put on hold. Theauthor believes that the guidance of industry insiders will analyze and choosethe guiding ideology and methods of research in the theoretical part of thisarticle. Unfortunately, due to the situation of COVID-19 in Finland, all meetingswere canceled or changed to remote-meetings.

The study investigated the interest and emotion of Finns in sports. Theimportant information includes the results and people's expectations, and theproject will also formulate marketing strategies and project implementationmethods based on the survey results. The significance of the project selectionto cooperate with the government is to integrate it with the government's tourismplan and green city plan. Lappeenranta's geographic location is very good, alarge number of Russian tourists come to visit each year, and the number ofChinese tourists is also increasing year by year. Based on these considerationsand also on the basis of research results, the author attempts to satisfy allcustomers and set prices. It is a flexible and changeable plan, which can attractmore customers in the future while providing high-quality services.

The bike-sharing plan is currently the most direct manifestation of the sharingeconomy, because sharing can avoid a lot of trouble, for example: theft, repairand maintenance issues. In contrast, the investment in the project is small, andthe benefits are visible. Our competitive advantage lies in intuitive manoeuvringand flexibility.

All in all, the goal of the thesis has been achieved and the author has reachedthe required conclusion. The author gained a lot of new knowledge when writingthe thesis, and also gained a lot of important information in the telephoneinterview. These will be used for the actual implementation of the project. Theauthor made this business plan after hard work and repeated certification.

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Figures

Figure 1 Location of Lapppeenrantaa................................................ 12

Figure 2 Marketing Mix .........................................................................17

Figure 3 PESTLE Analysis....................................................................20

Figure 4 Peter’s Five Force...................................................................21

Figure 5 Competitors Analysis ............................................................23

Figure 6 Financial Plan..........................................................................24

Figure 7 SWOT-analysis of Sharing Bike in Lappeenranta................32

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Tables

Table 1 Income statement example ........................................................25

Table 2 Shows the Cash-Flow example..................................................26

Table 3 Balance Sheet example and components.................................27

Table 4. Breakeven point calculation formula....................................... 28

Table 5. Basic costs for build Shared bike system in Lappeenranta....34

Table 6.includes Price, service group and time......................................34

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Appendix list

Appendix 1. Remote-Interview questions list

1. Have you ever held a bicycle race in Finland? How would youestimate your experience?

2. What do you think about the selection of bicycle cities in 2015?

3. Could prices affect citizens' choices? What is your opinion?

5. What do you think about public bike sharing program? Will theprogram benefit many people in the future?

6. What another bike services would you like to have? E.g,

7. Describe an ideal bicycle popularization plan.